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Seattle’s
cruise season opens
Port of Seattle’s
cruise season kicked off on Saturday, April 22nd with the arrival of Holland
America Line’s Volendam. Five lines will bring nine
homeported ships and a record 740,000 passengers in 2006.
The season
includes the return of all four lines that based ships in Seattle
last year plus the business of Royal Caribbean International
for the first time since 2002. All three of the port’s cruise
berths will be occupied Friday through Sunday. The last ship of the
season departs on Oct. 13.
In addition to
the seven-day cruises offered by all five lines, Celebrity Cruises
in October will operate three Pacific Northwest jaunts of three, four
and five days.
‘We’re
very excited about the shorter cruises because we see potential for
growth in that market,’ said Patricia Davis, president of the
Port of Seattle Commission. ‘The shorter cruises make it easier
for passengers to combine their cruise with a visit to Seattle and
other locations in our state.’
Vancouver
cruise season opens, too!
Port of Vancouver
marked the start of the cruise season and a week of festivities to
commemorate the 20th year of cruising from Canada Place.
Cruising is a vital part of Vancouver's economy; creating 13,500
total jobs annually’ at the port.
Cruising from
Vancouver began more than a century ago with passengers traveling on
paddle wheelers and freight vessels. In 1986 Vancouver hosted the
World Exposition and with it came the Canada Pavilion and cruise
facility known as Canada Place, welcoming 300,000 passengers
on 233 sailings.
Twenty years
later, in 2006 the port will host 28 ships on about 275 cruises with
more than 900,000 passengers. Each sailing through Vancouver
generates about CAN$2m (US$ 1.7m) in economic benefits to the local economy.
Carnival
sets return to St. Kitts, St. Lucia
Carnival Legend
will offer a new eight-day schedule from Fort Lauderdale that marks
the first time St. Kitts and St. Lucia have been featured on a
Carnival itinerary in more than 10 years. The program, which starts
in late January, also includes St. Maarten. Carnival Legend’s
eight-day program will operate from late October to early April and
from late October 2007 to early April 2008. From October through
December this year, the ship will continue to offer its original
eight-day Southern Caribbean cruises to St. Maarten, Barbados and Martinique.
Princess
fire update
Princess Cruises
confirmed that last month's fire aboard the Star Princess that
led to one passenger death and damaged 100 cabins started on one of
the ship's balconies. As a result of its findings, Princess is
immediately implementing precautions designed to prevent such a fire
from happening again and to detect and extinguish one if it did:
• 24-hour
fire watch of balconies: Crewmembers will be posted on the bridge
wings of each Princess ship to watch the balconies full-time. (All
balconies are visible form the bridge wings.)
•
Specific training and fire-response procedures for the crew,
especially for handling fires on balconies, and a new balcony fire
drill as well as enhanced communication to passengers regarding fire safety.
•
Changing housekeeping procedures on balconies, such as instructing
room stewards to put personal items left on balconies by passengers
back in the room and to observe balconies during other visits.
Cunard's
QM2 opens Brooklyn Cruise Terminal
New York City
Mayor Michael Bloomberg shared the stage with Carol Marlow, president
of Cunard Lines, at the opening of the Brooklyn (N.Y.) Cruise
Terminal April 15.
The Queen Mary
2 sailed into the terminal that morning, disembarking passengers from
the Caribbean and welcoming new ones for the season’s first
transatlantic crossing.
There were no
major glitches Marlow said, and the $56 million facility was ready
for the QM2’s arrival, with only a few “touch-ups”
left to do.
A Web site, www.nycruiseterminal.com,
has been set up with information on both of New York’s cruise
terminals (Brooklyn and Manhattan), including schedules for all
cruise ships coming in and out of the city.
Culture
playing big part in Costa Allegra’s makeover
When the Costa
Allegra sails out of Shanghai on its maiden voyage this summer, it
will be the only Costa Cruises ship offering ear-cleaning services.
In China, the
ancient practice of scraping wax from the ear canal is common, so the
service will be on the first cruise ship to carry Chinese citizens
from mainland China.
But while
onboard services are being designed to appeal to Chinese tastes, the
cruise is “not going to be Chinese,” said Pier Luigi
Foschi, Costa’s CEO. “We are offering an Italian and
European experience.”
Costa did
in-depth research on what the Chinese public is attracted to when the
company planned a $14.3 million restyling of the 1,000-passenger,
28,500-ton Costa Allegra.
The ship will
carry Chinese vacationers from Shanghai to Nagasaki, Japan, and
Cheju, a Korean island.
Freestyle
cruising getting a footprint in the UK
NCL is looking
to carry upwards of 60,000 UK passengers this year, representing a
30% increase on 2005, reports Francis Riley, the line's general
manager for UK, Middle East and Africa. Comparing this to a 17%
increase in fleet capacity year on year and a 17% growth projected
for 2006 in the UK market overall shows, 'Freestyle cruising is
getting a footprint in the UK,' he says.
Pacific
Dawn open for sale
Carnival
Australia officially put Pacific Dawn's inaugural cruise
season, which commences in October next year, in the marketplace this week.
The 70,000gt Regal
Princess is scheduled to make her debut as Pacific Dawn
on a 10-night 'Coral Bliss' cruise from Sydney to Noumea, Mystery
Island and Isle of Pines on October 24, 2007.
A traditional
Melbourne Cup cruise from Sydney on November 3 is in the 2007/08
program for the 2,000-passenger ship that went into service in 1991
and is being billed as 'Australia's first superliner.'
Oceania
toughens smoking penalty
Oceania Cruises
instituted a ‘zero tolerance’ policy for those who smoke in no-smoking
areas following last month’s fire on Star Princess.
Princess Cruises confirmed the blaze began on a balcony.
Oceania now
delivers a letter to each guest at the start of the cruise listing
the designated smoking areas and stating that those who disregard the
policy will be disembarked at the next port of call and may also be
subject to monetary penalties for damage or cleaning. The policy is
reiterated in the ship’s daily newspaper.
‘We’ve
never allowed smoking in accommodations or on verandas and, in the
past, we have issued warnings and imposed fines or fees on guests for
violating this policy. But in the wake of the Star Princess fire we
moved to much stricter enforcement,’ said Oceania spokesman Tim Rubacky.
The line still
allows passengers and crew to light up in designated areas. For
passengers, smoking is allowed in a section of one of the lounges and
a corner of the pool deck.
Crown
Princess will return to NY
Princess Cruises
said the upcoming debut season of Crown Princess from New York
has generated so much interest that the ship will return in Summer 2007.
Crown Princess
will reprise its nine-day Eastern Caribbean route including Bermuda
and will add two departures of a new itinerary to San Juan, St.
Maarten, St. Thomas and Grand Turk.
The main route
takes in Bermuda’s West End, San Juan, St. Thomas and Grand
Turk. In total, the season will include 12 sailings between May 12
and Sept. 6.
Princess
plans first summer in Hawaii
Princess Cruises
will offer its first summer season in Hawaii in 2007, plus a special
voyage to Midway Islands for the 65th anniversary of the Battle of
Midway and several Pacific crossings.
The
670-passenger Pacific Princess transits the Pacific from
Sydney to Honolulu in 33 days, offering segments along the way.
Sister Tahitian Princess begins another full season of French
Polynesia and Hawaii/Tahiti sailings, now scheduled through Spring 2008.
The
1,590-passenger Regal Princess’ final season with the
line introduces the company’s first summer Hawaiian Islands
program with seven 15-day departures roundtrip from Los Angeles. Regal
Princess’ Midway Anniversary cruise is a 20-day voyage,
also roundtrip from LA and including several ports in Hawaii. Yet
another option is a 31-day crossing from LA to Sydney.
Ship
sanitation continues to improve
Sanitation on
cruise ships is improving as the industry grows, with newer and
bigger vessels scoring higher during U.S. Public Health Service inspections.
USPH scores
have been climbing in recent years and continue to rise, according to
Dr. Elaine Cramer, an epidemiologist with the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
From 2001 to
2004, the median score was 95 on a 100-point scale, compared to 89 in
1990. The median score in 2005 was 96.
For more on
cruise ship inspections CLICK
HERE
RCCL
seeks lower costs in Cozumel
All three of
Cozumel’s cruise piers were severely damaged by Hurricane Wilma,
forcing lines to tender their passengers ashore. A few weeks ago, the
pier used by Royal Caribbean began accepting one ship at a time
alongside. Radiance- and Vision-class vessels are now able to
dock. However, the costs of tendering in Cozumel ‘continue
to be disappointingly high.’ The company is in talks with
Mexican authorities ‘to reduce the costs as much as we can,
which we think is appropriate given the support of our industry after
Hurricane Wilma, which seemed appreciated at the time.' |
